How al-Qaeda causes climate change

In his latest audiotape, Osama bin Laden criticized the U.S. over climate change.

And, while I have to agree that the U.S. has been quite guilty of emitting more than its fair share of greenhouse gases into the environment, al-Qaeda doesn't have a whole lot of room to talk.

In a recent article, UMich Professor Juan Cole takes a look at the top ten ways al-Qaeda causes carbon emissions and climate change.

According to Cole, "Global terrorism is a high-carbon activity and very bad for the environment, not to mention humans and other living things."

An excerpt:

1. Bin Laden wants to take over Saudi Arabia and pump its oil for himself and his movement. Use of petroleum and natural gas puts more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is a major source of climate change. In short, Saudis who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Saudi Arabia produces about 11% of all the petroleum pumped in the world every day. Al-Qaeda would not reduce exports significantly, since it would want the income they generate to pursue its political projects.

2. The attacks of September 11, using airplanes full of jet fuel and destroying skyscrapers and buildings, were -- quite apart from being monstrous acts of mass murder -- among the largest discrete man-made events causing high carbon emissions in this century.

>> Read the full article.